Chapter 3: Aftermath

Author's note.

Okay! I wasn't going to post this until a long time later, but seeing the intense response on what happens between Ana and Christian…. Yes. I just want to clarify that I'd like to experiment with Ethan and Ana, but I'm still a hardcore believer in Christian and Ana.

THIS ONE'S FOR CHARIS.

Sweat trickled down my forehead and onto my eyelids, stirring me from my sleep. It was really hot. Then, my senses drew my attention to the fact that arms were still around me.

Christian, I thought to myself. He always clung to me in his sleep and last night had not been any different.

My body relaxed at the thought and I began to sink back to sleep, enjoying his embrace a little longer before the alarm went off. Unfortunately, my mind was up and about, beginning to click together information and piecing back the tears in my memories. The events from last night flooded back into my head as the pain pierced through my body.

I winced.

My discomfort must have disturbed Ethan's slumber, as I felt his hold on me loosen and his heavy breathing on the back of my head. In response, I flipped over to face him, letting him pull his arm away from me. Ethan flinched as he recovered the arm that had been tucked under me all night.

"Morning, Ethan." I cheered, waiting for him to fully open his eyes.

A sweet smile played across his face as his eyes met mine, shining in a way that made me bush. "Top to the morning to ya', Ana!" He retorted with a huge grin, trying to pull of some kind of accent that I just could not put my finger on.

I pursed my lips watching him stroke his arm. "How's the arm?"

Ethan laughed, "It's still sleeping."

Was I that heavy? Maybe I was. I had never had Christian's arms under me for an entire night before… Maybe it was because I was heavy?

"Hey, you're light as a feather." Ethan mysteriously picked up on my thoughts, landing a soft punch on my cheekbone. As he stared at me, his blue eyes turned stormy. "Ana, your eyes are so red."

At his words, my right hand flew to my eyes and rubbed against them. Man, were they sore. "I'm alright." I reassured him, tenderly massaging the area around my eyes in attempt to ease off the ache. The only other time they had ached this bad was when my grandma died.

"You're alright." He repeated, as if trying to reassure himself.

I felt the mattress move under me and when my hands fell away, Ethan was out of bed and heading towards the toilet. Licking my lips, I contemplated falling back to sleep.

What time was it?

Sitting up, I reached for the alarm clock and stared at it intently. Finally, the gearings in my brain began clicking once again and my jaw fell. "I'M LATE FOR WORK." I hollered, leaping out of bed and rushing into the toilet to freshen up.

Ethan was brushing his teeth as I budged in, frantically washing my face with water and trying to straighten my attire.

You're going to work, in that? My inner goddess sneered. Way to tell your boss that you never went home.

She was right. I looked like a mess. My hair was all tangled up and Ethan was right, my eyes were bloodshot red. I had given into exhaustion last night, failing to save my straight shirt and pencil skirt for today. Now they were crumpled. I did not even have my toothbrush.

I groaned in disbelief.

Ethan spat and rinsed his mouth out. Reaching for the face towel, he dried himself up and then turned to face me. He watched me through narrowed eyes, as if he was uncertain if I was stable. To my surprise, he handed me his toothbrush with a cheeky smile. "Brush those teeth."

I stared at him in awe. Which sane person would lend anyone else his brush? A familiar face flashed into my mind and the world came to a halt. Gripping on tightly to the toothbrush, I broke down once again.

"Ana." Ethan's voice soothed me as he took me into his arms for the umpteenth time.

"I'm a mess." I sobbed.

"That's okay, Ana."

I shook my head against his chest. "I need to go to work."

He chortled quietly, my body shaking with is laughter. "Only you, Ana, would think of work at a time like this."

Why did he sound so much like Christian?

"I'm a mess that needs to go to work." I whimpered, letting the waterfall flow into his bare chest.

"Let's handle things one at a time, shall we?" Ethan replied, his voice filled with encouragement. "You can be a mess that doesn't need to go to work."

"No work?" I tested the words, my system grasping the concept. I nodded.

"Call in sick."

My heart sank. "I threw my phone out…"

There was a long pause. I imagined Ethan trying to understand why I would do that, something I had already explained to him yesterday.

"Not to worry." He piped up after a while, "You can use my phone."

Pulling away from me, Ethan offered me a full-blown smile. His hands left my back only to caress my face, his fingers softly brushing away the tears that had made my face their home. "Don't cry, Ana."

I bit on my bottom lip, struggling against the impending tears. My hormones were wrecking me apart.

Ethan took my hand in his and led me back out into the room, then he grabbed his phone off the study table and gave it to me. "Now, I'm going to bathe." He spoke slowly as if I was a toddler. "Don't try bursting into the toilet again unless you want a little action."

I giggled as he threw me a playful wink. Whilst walking towards the toilet, he turned back to check if I was following. He waved his index finger at me like I had been misbehaving. A gurgle of laughter left my lips as he strutted into the toilet. I heard the door creak but it did not close shut.

It was no wonder why spending time with Ethan was always a breather. Somehow, he never failed to make me smile no matter how bleak the situation looked. Suddenly, I was grateful for Kate. If I had never met her, I would have never met Ethan.

Focusing my attention on Ethan's phone, my eyes grew large as I saw the time. I was two hours late for work and even the picture of Ethan and Kate making funny faces on his lock screen could not keep the panic out of my system. Jack was going to roast me over a fire.

"Hello?" I breathed.

"WHO IS THIS?!" Jack's booming voice screeched.

I was in deep trouble. "Jack, it's Ana."

"ANA?! WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!" He bellowed, the anger undeniable in his tone.

My inner goddess looked up from reading tomorrow's papers, the headlines reading "ANASTASIA STEELE FOUND DEAD OUTSIDE SIP."

"I'm calling in sick." I whispered. "I've been passed out from the meds."

"OH HELL." He shouted. "DO YOU KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENED THIS MORNING?!"

I really wished he would lower his volume. My ears were getting sore by the minute.

"ANA. THE CEO OF GREY ENTERPRISES INC HAS BARRICADED SIP."

I gasped. "Barricaded?"

Christian?

"HE'S SITTING AT THE FRONT DESK. HIS MEN ARE INTERROGATING EVERY SINGLE EMPLOYEE AND CHECKING THROUGH SECURITY FOOTAGES."

What? "Why?"

"Anastasia." His tone was dead serious, flat and soft. "He's looking for you."

My heart clenched at the thought and I pictured Christian's feet crossed up on the front desk, his icy grey glare searching through the souls of every one who entered SIP. Of course.

"He thinks one of us are hiding you." Jack's voice was low, as if he did not want to get caught talking to me. My mind raced with the thought of Taylor patrolling the corridors and peeking through every office. "Ana, what's happening?"

My heart pounded uncomfortably. "Jack, I can't be found."

"What did you do?" He rasped, as if I had just told him that I had committed a murder.

More like what did he do, my inner goddess rolled her eyes.

Suddenly, a door slammed from over the phone and I jumped. " WHO ARE YOU TALKING TO, JACK HYDE?" A familiar voice growled. I grimaced.

"My mother." Jack retorted bravely, injecting as much innocence as he could.

Releasing the phone from my ear, it dropped into my hand and I pressed the end call option on the iPhone just as Christian's voice blasted from the phone. "ANA?!"

Shaking, I took an unsteady step back, my body seething with torture at the sound of my name on his lips. Christian is looking for me. Deep within me, I knew Welch was on my case too and it was only a matter of time until Ethan gets sniffed out.

It then dawned upon me that I had shared a bed with another man, a man that was not Christian. I knew that he would not take it well. Betrayal fueled by adrenaline raced through my system as I clenched my teeth.

The same way I had not taken it well when he confessed that he had shared more than just a bed with Leila.